


This Is Where We Start Again

by Redwylde



Category: Futurama
Genre: Canon Timeline, Gen, Platonic Frender, Post-Meanwhile Headcanon, Smoking, Tender Bender, Turanga Leela - Mentioned, unapologetic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 19:57:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15420444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redwylde/pseuds/Redwylde
Summary: As a newly married couple, Fry and Leela decided it's time they moved in together.Bender is emotionally conflicted, and Fry has an offer for him.





	This Is Where We Start Again

Bender reclined against the apartment wall, an arm bent behind his head and a cigar in hand in a vain attempt to appear casual. He stood watching Fry scuttle urgently about the apartment, gathering up his belongings and half-eaten foodstuffs and haphazardly chucking them in the general direction of his suitcase, which lay open on his bed.

Bender knew this day would come. Of course it would. It was a necessary step in human courtship culture. Fry and Leela had finally gotten married, after an entire decade of awkward back and forth will-they-won’t-they. Frankly, it was about time, everyone was getting bored of waiting for them to get their act together. The wedding was an elegant affair; big church, lots of friends, the usual. The service was pretty amazing, even by human _and_ religious standards, and it was made even more amazing by the world’s greatest best man once he’d ‘retired’ the organist and jazzed up the drinks table just a bit. Man, is Lobraü and liquid cyanide an explosive concoction. Once the vows had been said, the kiss had been shared and the bouquet tossed – which Bender still had hidden away in his chest cabinet – Fry and Leela made their escape to spend their honeymoon together. They were gone an entire week, and had agreed that the minute they got back, Fry would come home, grab his stuff, and officially move in with Leela that night.

Yes, Bender knew very well this day would come, but at the same time, he hadn’t expected it would actually happen. Waves of anxiety and dread thrummed around the base of Bender’s wiring cage. He’d pulled out one of his cigars to calm his nerves as soon as Fry brought out the suitcase, but he couldn’t so much as light it, so it remained positioned uselessly between his fingers.

 

Fry had now gathered up all of his clothes in all their unwashed glory and moulded them into a large ball of shirts and underwear, stuffing it into the case of trinkets and junk he thought might accent Leela’s apartment just a little more. Forcing the lid down with all his might and snapping the clips shut, Bender’s certain he heard a few things breaking.

“Oh, I tell you, Bender,” twirling around to sit back on his suitcase, elation pinching his features, Fry finally spoke up. “I can’t believe it’s actually happening. We’re really moving in together! That’s what makes this whole thing really real, y’know?” he raised his hand to gaze lovingly at his wedding ring, only to find it wasn’t where it should be. Holding his hand out and twitching an insistent finger, Bender silently pulled the ring from his chest cabinet and placed it in Fry’s palm.

“Yeah, and I guess the wedding and the honeymoon were just warmups” Bender rolled the unlit cigar between his fingers, rolling his eyes at the direction this conversation seemed to be taking. “I still don’t see why she can’t move in here. She’s stayed over before!”

“Yeah, but her place is a little bigger and it has an actual kitchen” Fry reasoned, kindly, sliding his ring back on his finger. “Aren’t you excited?” 

 _Excited to be losing my roommate for the second time in one lifetime?_ “Uh-huh, _real e_ xcited” finally, Bender lit his cigar.

 

Continuing on with his packing, Fry marched by with some of his posters draped over his arms, torn and full of holes from being hastily ripped from their place on the walls. Bender took a long drag of his cigar, and, with perfect timing, exhaled a cloud of smoke straight into Fry’s face. The redhead threaded some good-natured chuckles in between surprised splutters, and Bender felt the twitch of a smile on his waveform grill. He was going to miss this.

Casting a glance at the wall where Fry’s posters had once been, the pale patches on the wall, imprinted by years of memories and general slobbery, just looked wholly depressing. Bender gave the entire room a swift sweep, trying to imagine how it’ll look once Fry’s half of their furniture and belongings are cleared out. He had to take another drag. 

 

His attention was ripped from his solemn musing when he noticed Fry had pulled out another suitcase, opened it and snatched up Bender’s flannel shirt and the novelty lamp that bore a three-eyed frog playing a banjo he swiped at a boot sale, placing them inside. He stared in disbelief. When Fry made a move towards his pyjama pants and the Rolex he pinched from Hermes, Bender sprang forward. 

“Hey! Where d’you think you’re goin’ with my stuff!? This ain’t a flea market!” Bender slammed the lid of the suitcase down, almost chopping Fry’s hands off at the wrists in the process and held it possessively against his chassis. Fry had the gall to look surprised and Bender could’ve slapped him for that alone. “You think you’re all that now just because you’ve gotten married!? Why I oughta-”

“Woah, Bender, what’re you freaking out about?” the redhead held his hands up in a show of innocence, frowning in genuine confusion. “Don’t you want to take this stuff with you?”

Something inside Bender clattered. He narrowed his optics suspiciously. “Funny. I don’t recall making plans to go on another exotic road-trip”.

Fry looked thoughtful for a moment. “Wait, I didn’t tell you?”

Bender resisted the urge to strangle his roommate, flexing his fingers. “Well whatever it is, hurry up and spit it out!”

“You’re coming to live with me and Leela. Y’know, if you want to”.

 

Bender’s optics widened as far as they possibly could. This was, by far... the least likely thing he expected to hear.

“You… huh?”

“I want you to live with us” Fry repeated, patiently, a hopeful grin on his face.

“You serious?”

“D’uh! I’m not gonna leave you here all by yourself, especially not after what happened the _first_ time”.

 

Bender spun on the heel of his footcups at the mention of _that_ incident, crumpling in on himself with embarrassment. Why did he have to bring that up right now? All those years ago, when Fry had found another place to live and he was faced with the idea that he’d be living out the rest of his days alone, Bender spiralled. The depression caused him to stop drinking, he woke up in more gutters and parking lots than he cared to remember, and even chopped off his own antenna with bolt cutters just so everything would go back to the way it was.

Ugh, it made his torso casing crawl with shame. Although Bender could not say with confidence that there wouldn’t be a repeat performance when Fry moved in with Leela, he hated knowing there were others who had seen him at his most vulnerable. Stuff like that puts dampers on the amazing reputation one has so carefully constructed for themself.

 

“That was just sobriety and a faulty processor!” he barked, defensively, putting the suitcase back and tightly folding his arms against his chest to illustrate his conviction. _Stupid meatbag._ He felt a warm, squishy hand on his shoulder plate. He didn’t even need to turn his head to know Fry was smiling sweetly at him. 

“The point is, Bender, this is a new chapter in my life and I really want you to be part of it”.

 

That was so sickly sweet Bender considered actually gagging to part the rapidly-thickening atmosphere, but he couldn’t go on lying to Fry. Or himself.

“Well, of course you do!” he declared, before adding quietly, “..You do?”

“Yeah. You’re every bit as important to me as Leela is, and I don’t want to take this step without you. She and I talked it over on our honeymoon”.

“Wait – you _talked_ about this?” Bender tried to swallow the swell in his ego at the idea of him occupying their special time together without even being there.

“Well, yeah!”

“And you didn’t tell me!?”

“I didn’t want to get your hopes up just in case she said no”.

“And what if she _did_ say no?”

There was a pause.

“The point is,” Fry continued, sucking on his tongue and avoiding Bender’s eyes. “She said yes and you’re definitely coming with us! You’ll love it, Bender. Her apartment’s got a big walk-in closet that’s just perfect for you!”

 _Nice save_ , Bender thought, grimly, a pang of unease humming in his gut.

“You _do_ want to move in with us, right?” Fry paused his ranting and tilted his head, realising he hadn’t received a definitive answer. He looked almost nervous, and Bender stared at him. A million thoughts raced through his mind in that instant, and it was the loudest thought that reached his voice box.

“Of course I do! Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you dumdums! And the minibar– Leela has a minibar right?”

“We could get one-”

“AND the new minibar!” with Calculon-esque dramatic flair, Bender pointed towards the ceiling and Fry enveloped him in a gleeful hug, earning a playful punch in return.

 

Having gone back to packing up Bender’s things, the automaton couldn’t miss the coil of heat that had begun to pulse through his power cells as he watched Fry line up his belongings next to his own. Suddenly, he felt the need to look around the shared apartment again.

Fry had just about stripped everything besides the very walls and the furniture he couldn’t fit into their suitcases – not without lack of trying. Bender’s posters and stolen framed paintings had joined Fry’s and the few pieces of clothing Bender owned were rolled up and slipped into the available space. The floor was the tidiest it had been in years once Fry had collected the discarded food and trash and decided they might like to take it with them, and the various cupboards and drawers were emptied of their contents. Bender’s processors were whirling. Just a minute ago the emptiness of the apartment filled him with dread, now he felt like it was meant to be.

Something kick-started inside of him, a little like one of his fan-belts had jumped its track, and with a glimmer of excitement flickering in his optics, Bender rolled up his figurative sleeves. Time to pack.

 

When it was all done, the pair stood back to admire their handiwork, overstuffed suitcases in hand. Aside from the TV, the couch and both beds, the apartment was completely empty. Whatever hadn’t fit in the suitcases occupied Bender’s chest cabinet, and the plastic copy of Silicon Red’s Salmonella was slung across his back. Beyond the wide bay window, the sun was setting on New New York, casting a nostalgic, amber glow across the floorboards. Bender began to feel melancholy again. It was actually happening. He cast a glance at his oldest friend, whom he invited into his home just over 13 years ago and was now inviting Bender into his. It felt almost poetic. 

“I’ve lived in this apartment for as long as I can remember” he muttered pathetically, scuffing his footcups on the old floor.

“Yeah, I’m really gonna miss the old place” Fry nodded, wrapping an arm around Bender’s shoulders and taking in the moment with a contented smile on his face. There was a muffled beep, and Fry took his phone out of his pocket to check his messages. “We’d better go. Leela’s waiting for us at home”.

 

_Waiting for us at home._

Bender allowed Fry to steer him towards the front door, turning their backs on apartment 00100100. Just before they crossed the threshold out into the hall, Bender stopped.

“You okay, buddy?” Fry worried, his hand never parting from Bender’s casing as he turned to face him. Bender nodded.

“Yeah, ‘m just thinking” he blinked slowly, staring back into the empty room. “We’ve got a lot of memories of this place” reaching behind his head to pop open a small port just behind his antenna, Bender pulled out a small, square memory card. “And here they are”. The two marvelled at the tiny black storage device, hardly convinced that it was full of all of their time together in the apartment. Bender slipped it into a special holding slot just behind his cabinet door, and filled the port behind his head with a fresh card. Meeting Fry’s eyes with his own, Bender smiled. “Time to make some new ones”.

 

Fry grinned warmly, giving Bender’s chest an affectionate punch.

“It’s okay, buddy” he chuckled. Closing the door, not forgetting to pry the gold-plated name plaque from the outside of it – hey, it was 14 carats! – and bidding a final farewell to their old home, Bender wrapped his arm around Fry’s back as they headed down the hallway, toward their new life. 

“I’ll remember for both of us”.

**Author's Note:**

> I got tired of being sad about depressing Lonely-Bender-After-Fry AUs and headcanons so I've decided to fix it lol  
> This is the only domestic Freela situation post-Meanwhile I'll accept.
> 
> This is my first piece of writing in a while and my first Futurama piece ever, so it's probably a little lopsided, just until I get some practice in! Bender is probably way OOC here tbh.  
> Hope you enjoy~


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